Conversion therapy is a practice where a person or organisation acts with the intention to change, cure or suppress the sexuality or gender identity of a targeted individual. LGBTQ+ people have nothing to be ashamed of and there is nothing wrong or broken about who we are, yet conversion practices are still legal in the UK today and are being carried out here in Greater Manchester.
Greater Manchester should be a safe city-region for everyone and we are committed to ending conversion therapy for all members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Conversion therapy is a practice where an individual or organisation seeks an intervention with a predetermined outcome to change, cure or suppress the sexual orientation or gender identity of a person. Just as we won’t do business with those who promote discrimination or division, we believe that organisations that support, promote or facilitate conversion therapy for any member of the LGBTQ+ community should not be receiving public funding.
Organisations that support, promote, or facilitate conversion therapy or which campaign against the ending of conversion therapy should not be able to provide services on behalf of Greater Manchester Combined Authority, or to receive support from the GMCA or its affiliated community funding streams.
The Greater Manchester LGBTQ+ Equality Panel launched the ‘Greater Manchester pledge to end conversion therapy’ to put a stop to these abusive practices and make the city-region a safer place for all LGBTQ+ people. Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester has pledged his support, and now we need your help to encourage leaders across Greater Manchester to sign up to the pledge.
Dear [insert name],
I am writing to ask for your support to end so-called “conversion therapy” in Greater Manchester. These are practices that seek to change, “cure”, or suppress a person’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
The Government’s National LGBT Survey 2018 found that 7% of all respondents had been subjected to or offered conversion therapy, while 13% of trans respondents had been subjected to or offered it.
LGBTQ+ people have nothing to be ashamed of and there is nothing wrong or broken about who they are, yet conversion practices are still legal in the UK and are carried out here in Greater Manchester. Work is being done nationally to introduce a legislative ban, but there is action we can take in Greater Manchester to safeguard LGBTQ+ people from this abuse.
The Greater Manchester LGBTQ+ Equality Panel has launched a pledge: https://lgbt.foundation/greater-manchester-lgbtq-equality-panel/greater-manchester-pledge-to-end-conversion-therapy/ to end conversion therapy in Greater Manchester which has been supported by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester. We believe that no public body, organisation, or business in Greater Manchester that supports, promotes, or facilitates conversion therapy or which campaigns against the ending of conversion therapy should receive public funding.
You can read the pledge here https://lgbt.foundation/gmpanel/pledge-to-end-conv…. I hope I can rely on your support to endconversion practices in Greater Manchester, so that we can continue to progress towards a world where all LGBTQ+ people can live without shame or fear. I encourage you to sign the pledge by emailing lgbtequalitypanel@lgbt.foundation.
This list will be updated as and when we receive new signatures. To add your name to this list, please email lgbtequalitypanel@lgbt.foundation.
Following a meeting with the Greater Manchester LGBTQ+ Equality Panel in October 2022, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester raised an urgent business item at the November GMCA Board meeting to obtain formal agreement from the Board for the Panel’s GM Pledge to End Conversion Therapy. A recording of the GMCA Board meeting can be found on GMCA’s website (item begins at 14:05). On Friday 25 November 2022, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)’s Board unanimously agreed to adopt a policy, becoming a further signatory to this pledge.
You can find out more about conversion therapy and the national campaign for an effective and inclusive ban on the Ban Conversion Therapy website.